Saturday, December 25, 2010

This was hands down the best Christmas we've ever had. Last year was amazing because we just brought home our little miracle, but the whole Christmas celebration was such a blur because we had a 3 day old baby at the house. This year was SOO much fun! It's a complete different kind of excitement with a little boy running around playing with his new toys :)

Christmas #1

We met my family at Christmas Eve service at church and then went back to their house for dinner and presents. We always open family presents on Christmas Eve and then we get Stockings and Santa presents Christmas morning.

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Christmas #2

We spent Christmas morning at our house with just our little family. Bryson actually slept in late since he went to bed so late, so Michael and I exchanged our stockings before B even woke up :) After he woke up and had his breakfast and bottle, then it was present time!

Michael had asked for a new 3 wood and some other things for Christmas. I decided to be a trickster and wrap up his old golf club. I'm a professional wrapper, as you can tell. Ha! Or, I'm not, and I used a wrapping paper roll, paper towel roll, toilet paper roll, and a baby wipe box. :) He was just a bit confused when he opened it. But, I brought out his real present and he was much more excited!! :)

Christmas #3

After the Santa excitement, we went to Michael's parent's house. We opened tons of presents (and Michael got his real 3 wood), put together a puzzle, B and Kaiser played in the giant box than my lamps came in, ate some amazing tamales for lunch and sat and relaxed walked Bryson around outside by the fire place. Bryson got a ton of adorable clothes and had a blast playing with everyone!!

Christmas #4

Next, we were off to my parent's house. We have a tradition of getting new pajamas on Christmas Eve and then everyone wears them Christmas morning. The girls make snowman pancakes as soon as we wake up, and then we all open presents from Santa. Well, since we didn't get over there until late afternoon this year, we decided to have "Christmas Morning" that night. My mom made a giant breakfast for dinner and we all wore our pajamas and so on. SO, just a warning, there are family pajama pictures ahead. Yes, we are that family. And I love it! :)

﻿My parents got a new SLR camera for Christmas and they were taking pictures, so I ended up with no pictures of opening presents or our giant breakfast :(

Friday, December 24, 2010

I am slowly coming to terms that I have a ...{gulp}... one year old!! And, to top it off, my weekly "Your Baby- Week so-and-so" emails from Babycenter.com switched over to "Your TODDLER- Week 1" on Tuesday. Am I ready for that word yet? No. Not so much...

This has been a huge month for Bryson. He learns something new every single day and absolutely amazes Michael and I with everything he does.

~He immitates every single thing we do. I have been sick lately and coughing a lot. I always cover my mouth with my arm (something I picked up at school) and now, everytime I cough, I kid you not, Bryson picks up his arm and fake coughs into his arm!!! Also, Michael was dribbling a ball the other day and Bryson was watching intently. He grabed another ball and picked it up an stood up. dropped the ball. squatted, picked it up and stood up and dropped the ball again. He repeated this over and over. Michael and I had dropped jaws as we realized he was trying to dribble just like daddy!!!

~He's walking all over the place

~ babbles and "talks" like he's trying to save the world. He tries to repeat almost everything we say. I lovelove our conversations together!

~He LOVES his daddy. It melts my heart how hapy B gets when he sees Daddy and when they're playing together!

~ He loves to give kisses to everyone. Even Orion. Orion LOVES this! Whenever Bryson is proud of something he did, he walks straight over to me or Michael smiling from ear to ear and gives a big hug and kiss.

~He loves to be outside and to water the flowers. Ever since he was a baby, I have taken him outside to help water the flowers and this past month, he will walk over to the hose, stand up and put it in the pot all by himself. SO cute!!

~ He can sign "eat", "more", "milk" and sometimes "diaper"! Makes all of our lives SO much easier when he can tell us what he wants!!

~When we ask, he can point to his belly, head, and sometimes nose. If we say "Where's Bryson?!?" (and we're not playing peek-a-boo) he'll smile really big and pat his chest.

~ He loves playing with his toys and reading books. He gets so excited when he points things out in a book that we've read over and over.

~ He is almost always happy and smily, but he's starting to have little "tantrums" when we take things away or redirect him. He's pretty easily redirected, so they only last a few seconds, thank goodness!

~ He is so SO much fun to take places. People stop us quite often to see him. He's usually squeeling and talking at the top of his lungs trying to get everyone's attention, so he loves this!

~ We went to Preston Center for my Mom's birthday and got to see reindeer and Santa. He wasn't very excited about either. But MUCH less excited about Santa! haha

~He is just as silly and goofy as ever. Lately, he loves LOVES to put on our glasses.

~He loves crawling up into his chair at Mimi and Papa's house. I think he feels like such a big boy!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I think I've said this a thousand time in the last several weeks, but I really and truly can not believe Bryson is one. Michael and I both have absolutely loved every second of this past year with our sweet boy.

Let's take a little blast into the past and re-live this past year with Bryson....

Bryson celebrated his 1st Christmas, he was sleping 3-4 hours at night, loved tummy time, was nicknamed the poop-inator since we were changing wet and poopy diapers upwards of 20 times a day, saw snow for the first time, loved to cuddle and would take almost all of his naps on Mommy or Daddy's chest

He started making the funniest facial expressions and we would spend hours just watching him squench his face while he slept, saw snow so many times we lost count (this is crazy considering we're in TX. Unheard of, actually), refused his paci, upgraded to his crib in his own room, rolled over, started smiling intentionally, and was mommy and daddy's pride and joy

Became a pro at rolling from front to back, started babbling nonstop, Mommy went back to work and Mimi watched Bryson, started getting better at taking bottles, begain his 3 month bout with (undiagnosed) Colic or some sort of terrible gas/tummy pains at night, took his first road trip to Mimi and Papa's lake, got comments about how happy and easy he was when we were out and about, liked to lock his legs and stand while cooing and smiling, really started swinging at his hanging toys, and loved being held facing out so he could take in everything around him.

Realized there is no need for a paci when you can suck on your toes, loved to bounce like a mad man in his Jumper, started sleeping from 8-6, but still had terrible gas problems most nights, still woke up a few times in the middle of the night because of tummy issues, nursed 3-4 times and pumped 3 times, played with Mimi during the week while Mommy went to work, went to Aunt Reb and Uncle Ben's wedding and may or may not have screamed through the whole reception, rolled from back to front, and was visited by lots of Easter bunnies

Bryson started getting super active and rolled around all over the place to get to what he wanted, sat up by himself for the first time, decided he didn't like his carseat (thankfully that was a very short phase), nursed 3-4 times a day and pumped 3 times, played with Mimi while Mommy was at work, still woke up a few times a night because of gas, took a road trip to Granbury to see Michael's grandparents, took family pictures, started giggling often

B started eating solid foods, rice cereal and oatmeal, went swimming for the first time, really started interacting with Orion, started waking up so much more at night because of gas and was diagnosed with "silent reflux" (which didn't last long), loved going out in his stroller and taking in the world, I got off for the Summer and stayed home with him (ahhh, bliss!), nursed 4-5 times a day and stopped pumping (hooray!!), started crawling consistently, went to Mimi and Papa's lakehouse for the 4th, went on the boat, started opening and closing all of his drawers in his room, started pulling himself up to standing, went swinging for the first time, was just a super happy giggly baby like always!

B started crawling super fast, making the goofiest and loudest noises, pulled up on anything and everything and started taking some steps while holding our hands, took his first bubble bath in the sink, started sleeping muuuch better at night, loved to giggle at Orion, B took his first trip to a casino, rode a carousel horse,

really started liking books and turning the pages, we had to baby-proof the house, nursed 5-6 times a day, started formula in cereal, Bryson had his baby dedication, Bryson and I went dairy-free in hopes to soothe his gas problem (which didn't last long), still made grunting silly noises, and was SO much fun!

B started waving, motioning what he wants with a "come here motion, let go and would stand on his own, started saying "dada" and "hi", cut 4 teeth in 2 weeks, started day care since mommy had to go back to work, got sick for the first time, started formula bottle at day care, nursed 2-3 times a day, ate Puffs like a champ, went to my cousin's wedding in Houston, started cruising, went to the ER for dehydration, loved to open and close doors and cabinets, laughed, giggled and smiled more than anything :)

Was nicknamed "spider monkey" at daycare, calls Orion "dah", had separation anxiety from mommy and daddy to the max, stopped nursing :( , all of his tummy issues compltely went away!!, walked all over the place holding on with one hand, started pointing to everything, climbed on evrything-even up on the coffee table, started walking with a push toy, ate dirt, went to the Fair. :)

B started playing chase while crawling, gave high fives, upgraded to his big boy car seat, took his first steps (up to 5), started sleeping on a pillow, got his first haircut, ate his first chocolate bar, celebrated halloween as Super-Baby, spent the night with Grandma and Papa, went to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Brandon's wedding, ate cake and danced with Mommy!

Bryson proved to be more active than ever, started walking consistently, climbed into the dryer, immitated everything Michael and I did, moved up to the 12-18 month room at school, started drinking from a sippy cup, switched completely to table food, babbles like he's trying to save the world, loved going to the park and playing outside, played peek-a-boo with anything he could find, had his 1st birthday party, and froze to death waiting for Daddy to finish his marathon.

12 Months

Turned ONE year old!! Oh, Bryson, you are such a fun, happy precious boy!! I can't even imagine how wonderful year two is going to be after this amazing year!! We love you so so much!!